Program in Environmental Studies

Program Information

The Program in Environmental Studies (ENV) offers a vibrant, multidisciplinary forum for engaging the scientific, political, humanistic, and technological dimensions of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today. Through the certificate program, students majoring in any discipline may pursue a generalist track in environmental studies, or a more specialized track in the environmental natural sciences and engineering.

Experiential learning is integral to environmental studies at Princeton. Several of the courses offer laboratory and field experiences. Additionally, the program offers many summer domestic and international internships after their first-year, sophomore, and junior years. Funding is also available for students wishing to conduct field research as a component of their independent work during the junior or senior year. Equally important to the life of the program are the colloquia and other events through which students may present their work, work collectively on group projects and interact with leading scientists and policy makers in the field.

The Program in Environmental Studies is part of the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI), the interdisciplinary center for environmental research, education, and outreach at Princeton University. PEI is committed to advancing knowledge and developing the next generation of leadership in the environmental field. The institute comprises several major interdisciplinary research centers and educational programs for undergraduate and graduate students.

Admission to the Program

The Program in Environmental Studies is open to all A.B. and B.S.E. students. Students interested in pursuing a certificate are encouraged to register as early as their first year by completing the ENV Certificate Program Student Profile Form. Students should also meet with the director or the undergraduate program manager as soon as possible to plan a tentative course of study, including requirements for the generalist track or one of the specialist tracks.

Program of Study

Students in the certificate program, whether pursuing the generalist track or the specialist track, must complete five courses, investigate an environmental topic as an element of their departmental thesis, and participate in the senior year colloquium. Students must receive a grade of C or higher (no Pass/D/Fail) in all courses taken in fulfillment of the requirements for the ENV certificate.

Generalist Track

The generalist track is designed for students who want a broad based introduction to environmental issues and who wish to study a wide range of topics in environmental studies from a variety of perspectives (social, political, scientific, etc.).

Students following the generalist track must complete the following:

One foundation course: either ENV 200A-F or ENV 201A/B. Students enrolled in ENV 200 will select from one of several precept/lab varieties, the choice of which will fulfill differing distribution requirements (EM, LA, QR, SA, STL, STN). Students are encouraged to take their foundation course as early as possible in their academic careers. Please note the laboratory option is not required for the generalist track.
Four electives spanning the academic divisions of natural science, engineering, social science or humanities. Two of these four courses must be from different academic divisions. Three of the four electives must be taken at the 300-level or higher.

Students interested in focusing their coursework in a specific area of environmental studies may choose to concentrate their course selections around that area. Below are four examples of programs of study in the specific focus areas of: Environmental Humanities, Environmental Social Sciences, Food and Agriculture, and Sustainability. For each area, a suggested sequence of courses is listed.

Environmental Humanities Focus

One core course: either ENV 200A-F or ENV 201A/B
One advanced humanities course: ENV 369/ENG 383: Environmental Imaginings and Global Change; HIS 491/ENV 491: The History of Ecology and Environmentalism; or a suitable substitute.
Three electives from the generalist track list; two of these three courses must be from different academic divisions and should be at the 300-level or higher. Courses related to the environmental humanities are identified on the program website.

Environmental Social Sciences Focus

One core course: either ENV 200A-F or ENV 201A/B
One advanced social science course: WWS 350/ENV 350: The Environment: Science and Policy; or a suitable substitute.
Three electives from the generalist track list; two of these three courses must be from different academic divisions and should be at the 300-level or higher. Courses related to the environmental social sciences are identified on the program website.

Environmental Food & Agriculture Focus

One core course: either ENV 200A-F or ENV 201A/B
One advanced food or agriculture course: ENV 303: Agriculture, Human Diets; or a suitable substitute.
Three electives from the generalist track list; two of these three courses must be from different academic divisions and should be at the 300-level or higher. Courses related to environmental food and agriculture are identified on the program website.

Environmental Sustainability Focus

One core course: ENV 200A-F or ENV 201A/B
One advanced sustainability course: ENV 327: Investigating an Ethos of Sustainability at Princeton; or a suitable substitute.
Three electives from the generalist track list; two of these three courses must be from different academic divisions and should be at the 300-level or higher. Courses related to environmental sustainability are identified on the program website.

Students are encouraged to discuss elective choices with the director or undergraduate program manager early in their planning process. Courses that are not designated as ENV electives but have significant environmental content may also be accepted pending approval by the ENV director; this includes courses listed under the specialist track.

Academic Divisions

Humanities electives include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as Art and Archaeology, English, and Philosophy, as well as the School of Architecture.

Social science electives include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as Anthropology, Economics, History, Politics, and the Woodrow Wilson School.

Natural science electives include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Geosciences, Molecular Biology, and Physics.

Engineering electives include courses with environmental relevance from departments such as Chemical and Biological Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Courses from each of the four elective areas are identified on the program website.

Specialist Track: Environmental Sciences and Engineering Track

The environmental sciences and engineering track is intended for students who want to enter the program by building on course material derived from upper-level science and engineering courses in their area of expertise. Such advanced courses will enable students to delve deeply into the scientific and technical dimensions of the most complex and urgent environmental challenges facing humanity. Students will choose among topics, ranging from conservation and biodiversity, to climate change, to the global energy system to fresh water. Through the environmental sciences and engineering track, students will gain an understanding of the human dimension of scientific decision-making and the functioning of institutions that will likely be the key to designing successful innovations and environmental interventions for the future.

Students must complete two foundation courses: one environmental science foundation course and either an environmental humanities or environmental policy course, preferably during their sophomore or junior year:

Environmental Science Foundation Courses
EEB 321: Ecology: Species Interactions, Biodiversity and Society
ENV 302/CEE 302/EEB 302: Practical Models for Environmental Systems
ENV 354/GEO 354: Climate and Weather: Order in the Chaos

Humanities Foundation Courses
ENV 369/ENG 383: Environmental Imaginings and Global Change
HIS 491/ENV 491: The History of Ecology and Environmentalism or, What Does it Mean to be Natural?

Policy Foundation Course
WWS 350/ENV 350: The Environment: Science and Policy

In addition, students must complete two environmental science or engineering electives at the 300-level or above. One of the two electives must be a laboratory course. Students are also required to take one policy or humanities elective at the 300-level or above.

Except with the approval of the director or the undergraduate administrator, no more than one of these three elective courses may count toward the student’s departmental concentration or another certificate. In all cases, students are encouraged to meet with the program director or undergraduate administrator in order to choose an appropriate sequence of courses.

Environmental sciences and engineering track electives are identified on the program website.

Program Requirements

Senior Thesis. Students in the program earning a certificate via either the generalist or specicalist track are expected to examine an environmental issue as a component of their senior thesis. The topic must be approved by both the director as well as the departmental representative in the student's concentration. The environmental content of the senior thesis will be reviewed as part of the senior thesis colloquium (see below). Students who find it difficult to incorporate an environmental topic into their departmental senior thesis should meet with the director of the ENV program to find a suitable alternative as early as possible in their senior year.

Senior Colloquium. All ENV students pursuing the certificate are required to participate in a faculty-led colloquium during their senior year. The senior colloquium involves a series of gatherings over the course of the academic year that offers students a unique and important forum for discussing outcomes of their independent work and exchanging perspectives on global environmental issues. One of the most important aspects of the senior colloquium is the interdisciplinary dialogue facilitated by the participation of students and faculty members from a wide range of academic departments. The culmination of the senior colloquium in the spring is PEI's Discovery Day, a poster presentation that allows students to share the final outcomes of their thesis research with fellow students, faculty, and staff.

Scholar's Forum. Students in the program will also have the opportunity to participate in a self-governed Scholar's Forum, in which they interact with leading scientists and policy makers who are invited to visit throughout the academic year.

Certificate of Proficiency

Students who meet the requirements of the program receive a certificate of proficiency in environmental studies upon graduation.

Courses

ENV 102A Climate: Past, Present, and Future (See GEO 102A)

ENV 102B Climate: Past, Present, and Future (See GEO 102B)

ENV 200A The Environmental Nexus Fall SA

This course offers an introduction to the scientific, technological, political, ethical and humanistic dimensions of the nexus of environmental problems that pose an unprecedented risk at mid-century: climate change, biodiversity loss, and food and water for 9 billion people. All sections of ENV 200 will meet together for lecture each week, but students will enroll in one of six possible precepts that will meet separately and pursue a particular disciplinary focus and earn credit for the corresponding distribution area. Instructed by: S. Pacala, M. Fleurbaey, R. Nixon

ENV 200B The Environmental Nexus Fall STL

ENV 200C The Environmental Nexus Fall EM

ENV 200D The Environmental Nexus Fall QR

ENV 200E The Environmental Nexus Fall LA

ENV 200F The Environmental Nexus Fall STN

ENV 201A Fundamentals of Environmental Studies: Population, Land Use, Biodiversity, and Energy (also

STC 201A

) Not offered this year STN

This course explores how human activities have affected land use, agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity, and the use of energy in the USA and around the world. Students examine the fundamental principles underlying contemporary environmental issues, and use case studies to illustrate the scientific, political, economic, and social dimensions of environmental problems. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: K. Caylor, D. Wilcove

ENV 201B Fundamentals of Environmental Studies: Population, Land Use, Biodiversity, and Energy (also

STC 201B

) Not offered this year STL

ENV 202A Fundamentals of Environmental Studies: Climate, Air Pollution, Toxics, and Water Not offered this year STN

This course will focus on the environmental consequences of human activities and their interactions with natural systems on global scales, focusing on four main areas of current environmental concern: climate and global change; the atmosphere and air pollution; toxics in the environment; and water resources exploitation and pollution. Underlying principles will be explored for each topic, with examples and case studies used to highlight interconnections between the scientific, technological, political, economic, and social dimensions of environmental issues. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Instructed by: B. Ward

ENV 202B Fundamentals of Environmental Studies: Climate, Air Pollution, Toxics, and Water Not offered this year STL

ENV 203 Measuring Climate Change: Methods in Data Analysis and Scientific Writing (See GEO 201)

ENV 205 Interdisciplinary Design Studio (See ARC 205)

ENV 206 Designing Sustainable Systems (See ENE 202)

ENV 207 Introduction to Environmental Engineering (See CEE 207)

ENV 219 Catastrophes across Cultures: The Anthropology of Disaster (See ANT 219)

ENV 230 Culture and the Environment in East Asia (See EAS 230)

ENV 266 Oil, Energy and The Middle East (See NES 266)

ENV 300 Environmental Engineering and Energy (See CEE 304)

ENV 301 Nature and Infrastructure in South Asia (See ARC 301)

ENV 302 Practical Models for Environmental Systems (also

CEE 302

/

EEB 302

) Spring QR

Humans are increasingly affecting environmental systems throughout the world. This course uses quantitative analysis to examine three of today's most pressing issues: energy, water, and food. Each issue is examined from perspectives of natural and engineered ecosystems that depend on complex interactions among physical, chemical, and biological processes. The course is an introduction for students in the natural sciences and engineering pursuing an advanced program in environmental studies. We emphasize quantitative analyses with applications to a wide range of systems, and the design of engineered solutions to major environmental problems. Instructed by: M. Celia

ENV 303 Agriculture, Human Diets and the Environment (also

EEB 303

) Spring STN

Food fuels us and our diets connect us with nature at many scales. Yet most of us poorly understand how food is produced and how production processes impact our diets, health, livelihoods and the environment. By the course's end, students will better understand the ethical, environmental, economic, social and medical implications of their food choices. Food production methods ranging from hunting, fishing and gathering to small and large scale crop and animal farming will be examined through lenses of ethics, ecology, evolutionary biology, geography, political economy, social dynamics, physiology, climate change and sustainability. Instructed by: D. Rubenstein

ENV 304 Disease Ecology, Economics, and Policy (also

ECO 328

/

EEB 304

/

WWS 455

) Fall STN

The dynamics of the emergence and spread of disease arise from a complex interplay among disease ecology, economics, and human behavior. Lectures will provide an introduction to complementarities between economic and epidemiological approaches to understanding the emergence, spread, and control of infectious diseases. The course will cover topics such as drug-resistance in bacterial and parasitic infections, individual incentives to vaccinate, the role of information in the transmission of infectious diseases, and the evolution of social norms in healthcare practices. One three-hour lecture, one preceptorial. Instructed by: C. Metcalf, B. Grenfell

ENV 305 Topics in Environmental Studies Fall STN

Special topics courses related to the broad field of environmental studies. Instructed by: F. Popper, D. Popper

ENV 306 Topics in Environmental Studies Spring HA

Special topics courses related to the broad field of environmental studies. Seminar. Instructed by: F. Popper, D. Popper

ENV 307 Agriculture and Food: A Foundation for Living

Agriculture and food provide all people with a foundation for living. Our land and water resources provide food, fiber, medicines, industrial commodities, fuel and more. The course investigates and analyzes specific topics in agriculture and food, and evaluate the environmental impact of our current practices. Focuses on agriculture and looks at the challenges farmers face to produce enough food for a growing world population. Looks critically at the controversies over technologies used to address these challenges, and to consider whether, and how, farming can be done in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: X. Morin

ENV 308 Documentary Filmmaking in Kenya (See GLS 312)

ENV 310 Environmental Law and Moot Court SA

Examining the relationship between law and environmental policy, this course focuses on cases that have established policy principles. The first half of the seminar will be conducted using the Socratic method. The second half will allow students to reargue either the plaintiff or defendant position in a key case, which will be decided by the classroom jury. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: G. Hawkins

ENV 313 The Ecological Worlds of Japanese Culture (See EAS 313)

ENV 315 The Port of New Orleans: Culture and Climate Change (See VIS 325)

ENV 316 Climate Science and Communications Spring

Climate change has the potential to wreak great havoc over the next century, threatening ecosystems, economies, and human lives. Scientists are putting enormous effort into trying to understand the causes, effects, and possible solutions to the climate-change problem. Yet the public still has only a vague idea of what climate science actually says, and much of that is badly distorted. The course will explore how to communicate to the public about climate change through print, Web, and video, in ways that are at once clear, compelling, and scientifically rigorous. One three-hour seminar. Instructed by: M. Lemonick

ENV 317 Literature, Landscape and Place-Making in the African Environmental Imagination (See AFS 318)

ENV 318 Environmental Conflicts and Indigenous Media (also

HUM 318

/

JRN 318

) Spring LA

The last decade has seen the rise of global Indigenous movements related to environmental concerns from the People's Agreement of Cochabamba to recent protests over pipelines in the U.S. and Canada. Concurrently, there has been a notable rise in the reach and presence of Indigenous media even as mainstream media have failed to provide accurate, fair, or consistent coverage. Drawing on Environmental, Media, Science, and Indigenous Studies scholarship, this course will examine persistent media critiques and emergent digital infrastructures that are rapidly changing what it means to both report on and participate in these social movements. Instructed by: C. Callison

ENV 319 Environmental Economics (See WWS 306)

ENV 322 Toward an Environmental History of the Mediterranean (See HIS 308)

ENV 327 Investigating an Ethos of Sustainability at Princeton Fall EM

Achieving sustained human and environmental health is a global priority given increasingly disruptive economic, social and environmental conditions. Evidence suggests that humanity is capable of producing sustainable technological and social solutions, but must do so between now and mid-century. This course explores social/ethical dimensions of the sustainability challenge through an evaluation of related ethics and psychology of social norms literature, and includes an exercise in proposing evidence-based solutions toward cultivating an ethos of sustainability on the Princeton campus as a demonstration-scale system. Instructed by: S. Weber

ENV 328 Energy for a Greenhouse-Constrained World (See MAE 328)

ENV 331 Environmental Chemistry: Chemistry of the Natural Systems (See GEO 363)

ENV 334 Global Environmental Issues (See CEE 334)

ENV 335 The Energy Water Nexus (See CBE 335)

ENV 336 Environment and Migration (See SOC 337)

ENV 338 The Literature of Environmental Disaster (See FRE 338)

ENV 339 Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation, Policy (See GEO 366)

ENV 341 Water, Savannas, and Society: Global Change and Sustainability in Africa's Hallmark Ecosystem (See EEB 341)

ENV 349 Writing about Science (See STC 349)

ENV 350 The Environment: Science and Policy (See WWS 350)

ENV 351 Topics in Latin American Cultural Studies (See SPA 350)

ENV 353 Chemistry of the Environment (also

CEE 353

/

GEO 353

) Spring STN

This course provides the chemical background to understand many of today's most important environmental issues. Topics include atmospheric pollution, the ozone hole, ocean acidification, acid mine drainage, and coastal dead zones. Overall, the course focuses on a quantitative understanding of the chemistry of the atmosphere and natural waters. Students will use the chemical equilibrium model Minteq to study specific examples related to water quality issues. Instructed by: A. Morel-Kraepiel

ENV 354 Climate and Weather: Order in the Chaos (also

GEO 368

) Spring STN

This course focuses on the relationship between climate and weather events: each weather event is unique and not predictable more than a few days in advance, large-scale factors constrain the statistics of weather events, those statistics are climate. Various climatic aspects will be explored, such as the geographic constraints, energy and water cycling, and oceanic and atmospheric circulation, solar heating, the El Niño phenomenon, ice ages, and greenhouse gases. These climate features will be used to interpret the statistics of a number of weather events, including heat waves, tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons) and floods. Instructed by: G. Vecchi

ENV 355 Economics of Food and Agriculture (See ECO 355)

ENV 356 Geochemistry of the Human Environment (See GEO 360)

ENV 357 Empire of the Ark: The Animal Question in Film, Photography and Popular Culture (also

AMS 457

/

GSS 357

/

ENG 315

) Fall EC

This course explores the current fascination with animals in film, photography and popular culture, engaging central issues in animal and environmental studies. Why has looking become our main way of interacting with animals? How does rethinking animals inspire us to rethink being human? How can we transform our relations with other species and the planet? Course themes include: wilderness, national parks and zoos; the cult of the pet; vampires, werewolves and zombies; animal speech, animal emotions and rights; nature, sexuality and race. Exploring planetary crises such as extinction and climate change, and positive strategies for change. Instructed by: A. McClintock

ENV 359 New Directions in Environmental Humanities Fall LA

In an era in which environmental science is routinely ignored by citizens and politicians alike, humanities' approaches to the environment--including thinking critically, politically, aesthetically, and philosophically--are increasingly necessary. This course introduces students to cutting edge, recent scholarship in central themes in environmental humanities, from food studies to science fiction, from historical analyses of climate change to environmental racism, with case studies from the deserts, tropics, oceans, and beyond. Materials include essays, monographs, films, fiction, and visits by authors. Instructed by: R. Price

ENV 361 Earth's Atmosphere (See GEO 361)

ENV 362 Earth History (See GEO 362)

ENV 363 Writing the Environment through Creative Nonfiction (also

ENG 337

) Fall LA

This workshop will expose participants to some of the most dynamic, adventurous environmental nonfiction writers while also giving students the opportunity to develop their own voices as environmental writers. We'll be looking at the environmental essay, the memoir, opinion writing, and investigative journalism. In the process we'll discuss the imaginative strategies deployed by leading environmental writers and seek to adapt some of those strategies in our own writing. Readings will engage urgent concerns of our time, like climate change, extinction, race, gender and the environment, and relations between humans and other life forms. Instructed by: R. Nixon

ENV 365 Conservation Biology (See EEB 308)

ENV 367 Modeling the Earth System: Assessing Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change (also

GEO 367

) Fall QR

This course is an introduction to earth system modeling for students interested in global environmental issues. Students will use a "compact" or "reduced" earth system model, including the ocean, the land and the atmosphere, to examine how the system responds to human activities and natural climate variations. In small groups, they will design mitigation and geo-engineering scenarii (reforestation, carbon capture, emission limitation etc.), test their impact using the model and analyze and discuss their results. This course is designed to give students a critical thinking about climate models, their strengths and their limitations. Instructed by: L. Resplandy

ENV 370 Sedimentology (See GEO 370)

ENV 372 Rapid Switch: The Transition Challenge to Low-carbon Energy (See ENE 372)

ENV 373 Creative Ecologies: American Environmental Narrative and Art, 1980-2020 (See AMS 354)

ENV 375 Crossing the Climate Change Divide (also

ENG 275

/

JRN 375

) Fall

The effects of climate change are here, now. Yet Americans are divided on this singular issue. Or are they? While media portray climate change debates as binary, fact-averse conservative denialists vs. Green-New-Deal leftists, the reality is that all Americans are experiencing changes in their own backyards. Journalist and Visiting Professor Subramanian traveled across the country collecting climate change stories told by conservative farmers, ranchers, dogsledders, evangelical Christians, and others. We'll explore why facts alone can fail and how political, economic and religious beliefs shape the climate debate for people far from academia. Instructed by: Staff

ENV 378 Nature vs. Culture: A European Problem (See ECS 378)

ENV 383 Environmental Justice Through Literature and Film (See ENG 384)

ENV 384 Dilemmas of Development in Asia (See EAS 302)

ENV 386 Literature and Environment (See ENG 386)

ENV 393 New Approaches to Indigenous and Ecological Issues (See LAS 394)

ENV 394 History of Ecology and Environmentalism (See HIS 394)

ENV 401 Environmental Policy Workshop Not offered this year

The workshop will focus on currently unresolved environmental policy questions from the perspective of the scientific evidence available to support alternative interventions and the accompanying social, economic, and political trade-offs and conflicts that require adjudication. Prerequisite: 201 or permission of instructor. Instructed by: B. Singer

ENV 405 The Land Crisis for Food, Climate and Wildlife Fall SA

People have plowed up, cut-down and otherwise heavily manipulated more than 75% of the world's land, and the degree and extent of this manipulation continues to expand to meet rising demands for food and wood products. This course will explore the consequences for biodiversity and climate change, the drivers of change and scenarios for the future. Students will think through the complex issues behind conservation planning for biodiversity and gain understanding of what is known and not known about the global carbon cycle. Major class papers and a final presentation by each student will explore solutions. Instructed by: T. Searchinger

ENV 406 Energy and Form (See ARC 406)

ENV 407 Africa's Food and Conservation Challenge (also

AFS 407

/

GHP 427

) Fall SA

This course will explore the economic, environmental, and social challenges of meeting growing food needs in sub-Saharan Africa. The region today has the lowest crop yields, the highest percentage of hungry people, and the highest population growth rates, and relies heavily on firewood for energy. The region also has vast areas of environmentally valuable forests and savannas. It has technical opportunities to produce crops better but faces challenges from high rainfall variability and climate change. The course will balance instruction, guest lectures and presentations by student teams, which will also produce a final paper. Instructed by: T. Searchinger

ENV 417A Ecosystems and Global Change (See EEB 417A)

ENV 417B Ecosystems and Global Change (See EEB 417B)

ENV 418 Microbial Life - A Geobiological View (See GEO 416)

ENV 425 Science, Technology, and Society in Latin America (See LAS 429)

ENV 426 Exposure: The Storied Landscape of Bears Ears National Monument and America's Public Lands (also

HUM 426

/

VIS 426

) Spring LA

In this course, students will be introduced not only to the politics of place but also to an ethics of place explored through the lenses of culture, ecology, and fossil fuel development. Students will explore and interrogate what communities in the arid Southwest look like in this era of climate change. The semester will consider the work of artists and writers engaged in witnessing and documenting environmental change and will involve research for a final project. There will be a seven-day field trip immersion in the complexities surrounding Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah during spring break. Instructed by: F. Sheikh